Landlords Breaking Tenant Laws while Belittling & Giving me Attitude

a reply to: FamCore

First, this is the rant forum, and it's a great rant.

Now, I don't know what the laws are in your State, but this is how it works in Toronto. You must give 60 days notice to leave. If you leave before that and don't pay for the full 60 days, you are still libel for the 60 days worth of rent. But, if the landlord rents the place in the interim, (like you left in 30 days and the landlord rents the place for the missing 30 days), you are not libel for that extra 30 days rent. Plus, if the landlord did not rent it in that 30 day window, he must prove to the courts that he did everything possible to rent it. If he does not prove that in court, you are not libel for the extra rent. Very hard to prove.

This is what you should do. I'm gonna get flamed for this, but I don't care. Find another place. Not matter what, this situation will not go away, you have to leave. So... find another place, lets say it's for Oct 1st. Give him 60 days notice on Aug 1st. Pay him rent for August, but don't pay him for Sept. When he asks for Sept's rent, give him some kind of story like your are having trouble with the bank but will get the money to him as soon as possible. Don't ever pay him for Sept. Move Oct 1st. 1 months free rent for you. F Him! Now, he could come after you in court for the money you owe him. But the chances of him doing that is very remote, as it will cost him more to sue you for the money than he would win, and there is very little chance that he will win. Plus it will take a long time. He will most likely just eat the months rent.

People might say, "Ya, but what if the landlord wins in court plus he wins court costs. Then I'm in for more money than if I paid in the first place." No. In court, for a claim this small, courts almost never reward courts costs. And even if they do, it's small. And the courts for a case this small would also almost for sure never reward the landlord's lawyers fees, which would be way above the money you owe him in about 4 hours of lawyers fees. So he will not come after you. So even if he does win in court, and the court awards him the 1 months rent? What have you lost? Nothing. The worst that will almost for sure happen is that you have to pay the 1 months rent. Even that will almost for sure not have to be paid, as he will have to come after you for the money = even more costs to him. In the end it is not worth his time and money to come after you for the 1 months rent no matter what happens.

originally posted by: FamCore
a reply to: Boadicea

Thanks Boadicea

I will have to provide an update after the dust finally settles

Definitely!

Who knows? Whatever you figure out may help someone else somewhere down the road...

I was a commercial mover years ago, residential and commercial..

We moved everyone from low level employees at major tech companies..

Service men putting things in storage before going overseas..

Major label record executives...

Low income families moving out ofof houses and into apartments..

You name it...

One thing I noticed is the more well off the household was, the lower the tips would be...

And vice versa..

I have refused tips because I could tell( after handling all there worldly possessions ) they couldn't afford it..
I would tell them the company does not accept tips, I would not be condescending ...
The point is..
People who have never had to work hard for money,do not understand what it means to work 70 -100 hours a week..

Keep your head up bro, I hope you find a better place dealing with better people!

~ meathead

a reply to: Starbuck799

you`re right about one thing the laws are definitely not helpful to landlords. Landlords can`t do # without first going to court and not just once but many times. Trying to evict someone is a long process involving the courts and jumping through a lot of hoops.It took me 4 months to finally get people evicted for not paying rent.The problem with having to go through the courts is that it can take months (depending on how busy the court is) before the court even hears your case.
it`s not just a one time court appearance either,the first time is just to see if the court agrees that the tenant violated the lease and can legally be evicted.if the judge agrees then a new court date is set (for weeks or months down the road) and a letter is sent to the tenants telling them that they can appear and contest the eviction.If they lose they still don`t have to leave right away, the court will give them (usually) at least 30 days to find another place and leave.if they don`t leave after 30 days then you have to go get another court date and wait.at this hearing the judge will finally issue an eviction order to the sheriff,which usually takes a few weeks before the sheriff acts on it.
by the time I jumped through all those hoops and finally got them out they had lived there for 6 months without paying rent and had completely trashed the place since they knew they were being evicted anyway.
I spent many more months getting a judgment against them for the damages but they never did pay any of it.

The cards are stacked in the tenants favor,legally.

a reply to: Tardacus

Ya, where I certainly don't advocate doing what I said to do in my above post to any landlord who is normal, nice, and fair, when you are a Dick, you should expect others being a Dick back to you.

It's terrible that you should have to live like that. I'm glad you're getting out of there and wish you all the best!

originally posted by: Starbuck799
a reply to: FamCore

First, this is the rant forum, and it's a great rant.

Now, I don't know what the laws are in your State, but this is how it works in Toronto. You must give 60 days notice to leave. If you leave before that and don't pay for the full 60 days, you are still libel for the 60 days worth of rent. But, if the landlord rents the place in the interim, (like you left in 30 days and the landlord rents the place for the missing 30 days), you are not libel for that extra 30 days rent. Plus, if the landlord did not rent it in that 30 day window, he must prove to the courts that he did everything possible to rent it. If he does not prove that in court, you are not libel for the extra rent. Very hard to prove.

This is what you should do. I'm gonna get flamed for this, but I don't care. Find another place. Not matter what, this situation will not go away, you have to leave. So... find another place, lets say it's for Oct 1st. Give him 60 days notice on Aug 1st. Pay him rent for August, but don't pay him for Sept. When he asks for Sept's rent, give him some kind of story like your are having trouble with the bank but will get the money to him as soon as possible. Don't ever pay him for Sept. Move Oct 1st. 1 months free rent for you. F Him! Now, he could come after you in court for the money you owe him. But the chances of him doing that is very remote, as it will cost him more to sue you for the money than he would win, and there is very little chance that he will win. Plus it will take a long time. He will most likely just eat the months rent.

People might say, "Ya, but what if the landlord wins in court plus he wins court costs. Then I'm in for more money than if I paid in the first place." No. In court, for a claim this small, courts almost never reward courts costs. And even if they do, it's small. And the courts for a case this small would also almost for sure never reward the landlord's lawyers fees, which would be way above the money you owe him in about 4 hours of lawyers fees. So he will not come after you. So even if he does win in court, and the court awards him the 1 months rent? What have you lost? Nothing. The worst that will almost for sure happen is that you have to pay the 1 months rent. Even that will almost for sure not have to be paid, as he will have to come after you for the money = even more costs to him. In the end it is not worth his time and money to come after you for the 1 months rent no matter what happens.

I won't flame you for your suggestion!

How I handled this was if the security deposit covered any damages AND unpaid rent, late fees, utilities, etc. then it was a wash. If they still owed money, I'd file a small claims suit. It cost me $22 of something like that in NJ. 9 times out of 10, the tenant wouldn't show up for court (no forwarding address, etc.), so I would get a default judgement. That now follows the tenant around. If they ever go to buy property or anything, it shows up and needs to be paid off.

a reply to: FamCore

Peter_Kandra said: How I handled this was if the security deposit covered any damages AND unpaid rent, late fees, utilities, etc. then it was a wash. If they still owed money, I'd file a small claims suit. It cost me $22 of something like that in NJ. 9 times out of 10, the tenant wouldn't show up for court (no forwarding address, etc.), so I would get a default judgement. That now follows the tenant around. If they ever go to buy property or anything, it shows up and needs to be paid off.

You don't want a housing judgment on your credit report. It stays there for ten years whether or not you pay it.

I think you're going about it in the right way. Just get free of them without exposing yourself legally, then rejoice that you're out of their orbit. If your lawyer can - and has the inclination to - make them suffer, knock yourself out. Sounds like they richly deserve it.

a reply to: FamCore

It's been kind of like a chess game with an angry drunk

That quote is signature worthy.

Be happy you don't reside in Seattle- my rent has DOUBLED in the past 5 years- my landlord just got back from vacation in Hawaii, purchased a brand-new Mercedes convertible, wears shoes that cost more than my monthly income, etc. From what I can judge by the number of homeless people camping next to the freeway (and under bridges/overpasses and pretty much anyplace they can pitch a tent/tarp), the property/building owners do not really care about their tenants ability to afford rent- they care about their BANK ACCOUNT BALANCE.

The building I live in needs a ton of work, but never receives any attention except for a weed-whacking when the foliage reaches eye-level. I had rats living/breeding in the wall next to my bed for more than 3 months before landlord took my complaints about the noise keeping me awake seriously- he initially insinuated that I was "hearing things/crazy/paranoid" until the rats chewed their way into an adjacent unit and THEY complained. Then, the owner got the bright idea of using glue-traps- the poor rat died in an inaccessible part of the wall and began to decompose filling my unit with a rancid stench that took me many months to clear from my unit & nostrils.

The moral of the story is: get rich (born that way, marry into it, develop an app), buy buildings, BE THE LANDLORD. Tenants get ZERO love.

UPDATE:

I confronted landlords about not providing me 30 days notice of raising the rent, and that I would NOT be paying the additional $200 for the month of August.

In a retaliatory manner, they replied that my roommate (who will be going back to school full-time August 20th) must "vacate the premises immediately" and that they consider this person to be a trespasser at this point.

I've gotten 2 attorneys involved They are probably going to **** themselves when they see the cease and desist letter one of my attorneys is sending them. They have made defamatory statements and are now ordered to cease and desist, and not harass me or my roommate.

We'll see how they like THIS message. Obviously they bit off more than they can chew. Will update as developments come in.

a reply to: FamCore

Good for you! Ah sweet victory!
You seem like such a nice guy, they probably thought they could walk right over you. Fingers crossed live long and prosper and all of that!